Archive through May 16, 2020
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Company-Conventions-Stores-Ideas: New Product Lines Development:
GENERAL PROJECTS:
New Product Suggestion Topic:
Archive through May 16, 2020
Anyone heard from the Early Beginnings guy?
Shawn,
No. It fell through the cracks. Let me dig up the Email from ADB about what he needed. If I can't find it, I will Email ADB again to re-send the info.
Carpet Hex maps for minis or carpet F&E LSMs maybe?- http://printoncarpet.com/mayfair-games-portable-carpets-in-many-sizes-cover-trade-show/
How about after CL#50 comes out, at irregular intervals you could release a Captain's Log Remastered? Maybe even inside a larger regular issue of CL. Take the material from an old issue and update, correct, and edit it to the modern standards SSDs and scenarios included. Then when enough issues are remastered you could pull the fiction and it would edited enough for your kindle editions that were mentioned. Example: "CL#51/CL#1 Remastered." 144 pages of new stuff plus 44 pages of updated stuff. It would also be a way for the early stuff to be in LPE.
F&E guys had no comment about my earlier post, I thought sure they would carpet their houses with an F&E Map.
Shawn, it's not big enough.
I need a football field worth of dye-sublimated astro-turf. Then its time for mini-F&E!
And no, that's not a small F&E game, that's an F&E game with miniatures instead of counters.
Years ago, GDW (Game Designers Workshop or some thing like that) published a game called snapshot... it was a tactical combat system tie in to their Traveler game. The box had a couple of deck plans of a free trader and what SFBs calls a skiff and a set of rules and some counters to represent figures (crew, playercharacters, pirates etc).
Now that ADB has published deck plans of skiffs, free traders, fed frigate and (in the process of) publishing APT deck plans, is it plausible for ADB release a set of deck plan tactical games in the same catagory as the old snapshot game?
It would require a generic combat system to resolve
Individual tactical combat, and some sort of counter s to represent combatants.
Instead of printing a huge number of individual deck plans, just include the existing deck plans and a laminated battle sheet and a grease pencil sothe players can sketch in what ever rooms they need.
Might consider including some laminated items common to most deck plans like air locks, chairs computer workstations wall sections etc... that way you keep the cost down.
You could even expand the line of game modules each time a new deck plan is released.
Just a thought.
Sounds like KRAG to me (a game I would certainly play)
duplicated inerror
Its been years and years, but IIRC it was a fast play kind of thing, might fall into the "beer and pretzels" catagory.
Even better, it would appeal to both SFBs and FC players... and wouldnt require any significant conversion rules to resolve the boarding actions.
For some reason, I can't recall any details about a game called KRAG... Iguess Imissed playing that one back in the day.
It stands for Klingon Rapid Assault Group, I think. Individual soldiers on deck plans. It hasn't been published, or AFAIK even designed, it's just one of ADB's "we might do this someday" ideas.
Yes, Jeff has re-invented an existing game: KRAG. What he is describing is so close to it that he might as well have copied-and-pasted the stuff posted elsewhere. Great idea, but an SVC idea from the past, not a new idea from Jeff.
Not an existing game... yet.
Might be time to raise its priority from what ever pit its been consigned to in the "might do this someday" under-world regions.
From what I gather, the big missing piece was the deck plans which didn't exist years ago, but now do exist.
No, that was not the big piece missing.
The big missing piece was $50,000 to print it in China to the standard that the world expects.
Has any thought been given to publishing an X-tech supplement for Star Fleet Marines?
X-ship boarding parties don't fight any differently from standard-tech ships' boarding parties. The rationale, as I understand it, is that hand phasers are so cheap compared to ships that an advanced technology version would quickly be mass-produced and issued to the entire fleet, X-ships and standard ships alike. But the same might not apply to things like tanks and GCVs. It might take longer to completely change over your ground forces to the more expensive vehicles. After all, by the end of WW2, the Germans still had plenty of Panzer IVs in service. Many of the American Shermans were still the 75 mm gun version rather than the improved 76.2 mm version. The Soviets still used the 76.2 mm versions of their T-34s.
There might not be enough scope for a separate independent module here. But maybe a Captain's Log article with rules for incorporating some advanced tech systems into Star Fleet Marines?
Alan, tech progression does create some interesting situations. If something was done along those lines it would most likely need to include things about different levels of forces as seen with outstanding and poor crews in SFB. If IRC part of Desert Storm was technology; but the greater part was the Iraqis were so dang poor quality. I could be recalling things incorrectly; either way- poorly maintained equipment and poorly trained or low morale troops are a liability. Likewise supremely reliable equipment, crack training, and great morale are some nice boons and either can make huge differences in a battle.
A couple months ago, I finally faced a phobia about ordering on-line (BTW: ADB, Inc., you've been GREAT about it! 
) and ordered a couple of the MSSBs. They've been a WONDERFUL (and VERY fun) reference.
I had an idea for a corrollary item; a "Master SSD Book" for each empire.
I mean, I'd LOVE to have a quick access to any and all SSDs to be able to thumb through without digging out the specific product book (J, K, one of the dozen of R books, you know...) to mull over a ship for a composite squadron.
My copies of the Master Rule Book and Omega Master Book have been put in three-ring-binders (loose leaf and three hole punched) and I'm thinking (go ahead and snicker, if you'd like ) that such a format for a Master SSD book would facilitate pulling out ships for a side-by-side (instead of flipping back and forth across multiple books).
Books of this nature can also serve to facilitate side-by-side comparisons of similar mission ships from different races (i.e.: "I'm getting into a scenario where a Kzinti BT is facing a Klingon equivalent, how do the two ships stack up against each other?").
If this idea has already been considered and rejected because of anticipated poor sales, then (of course) I withdraw the suggestion, but I still am curious as to what you may think of it.
It was considered and rejected for two reasons:
First, because it confuses the product line. If you have J, K, R1, Klingons, Kzintis, Gorns you have part of two overlapping series.
Second, because every time we did a new product, say R17, we would be expected to give all of the Master SSD customers a free upgrade to the newly expanded book, making it impossible for us to afford to do any new products as at least half of the customers wouldn't be paying for them.
Makes sense.
I'll be going with a "B" plan then. My copy of the Advanced Missions SSD book had its spine disintegrate a couple years back (and no, it's not a "Quality Control" issue; I'd just had it since Advanced Missions was first released back in `91, and you can't expect a book held open that far for THAT long a period of time to keep its glue intact) so I've been considering chopping off the spines of all my SSD books and loading up the SSDs themselves into the three ring holed sheet protectors with each race having their own book.*
(* Exception: Omegan empires. )
If I may play "Devil's Advocate" for a moment? Don't those two reasons for rejection also apply to the MSSBs?
I slit the spine on the SSD books and feed them into the copier, which is much easier now since I can order them loose-leaf or as PDFs. Each empire gets their own binder with the ships sorted by ship size. (The originals are in a file cabinet somewhere.)
What is ADB policy on “orphaned” miniatures?
Several game companies, over the years had and then lost the license to produce Star Trek ship miniatures. The miniatures still show up on eBay, Amazon etc.
The reason I ask, is (and This is an assumption, I have no idea if it is a valid assumption) given that the miniatures exist, would the market support a no counter R module detailing SSDs of the most popular miniatures ?
I assume that obvious equivalent ships like Constitution class heavy cruisers of Klingon D7 battle cruisers should be skipped as they already are part of the existing SFB lines of miniatures.
But the question remains about non canon designs that never really appeared in the movies.
Some, sadly, would likely provoke a unpleasant response from a certain movie studio... but there are others that wouldn’t.
The Regula one station from the motion picture would seem to fit the first category.
If the miniatures are out of production, and have no business supporting or maintaining ownership rights, it would seem that an opportunity exists.
No opportunity exists. Those minis were licensed by Paramount, therefore are Paramount property, and the list of what Paramount property we can use does not include them.
Pity.
Thank you for responding.
Hi SVC,
It's been a long time, hope you're doing well. I have a question for you guys, not
sure where to put it. Anyway....
A few years back, I vaguely recall talk of a potential new game, that to my mind would be kind of like a "choose your own adventure, SFB style". Where, depending on what action you took, you'd turn to a certain page to find out what happened. What was that called, and was that ever made? Will it ever be made?
Thanks,
Ben
Hi SVC,
It's been a long time, hope you're doing well. I have a question for you guys, not
sure where to put it. Anyway....
A few years back, I vaguely recall talk of a potential new game, that to my mind would be kind of like a "choose your own adventure, SFB style". Where, depending on what action you took, you'd turn to a certain page to find out what happened. What was that called, and was that ever made? Will it ever be made?
Thanks,
Ben